Al Jazeera, ABC, NBC and the BBC are among those focusing on Moneygall in Co Offaly.
“BLACK AMERICAN president to visit ancestral home in the Irish midlands” would, until very recently, have seemed like one of those impossible things before breakfast believed by the queen in Alice’s wonderland.
Or a sub-plot from the 1968 Hollywood musical phantasmagoria, Finian’s Rainbow , in which Irish emigrants, the McLonergans – with a leprechaun in tow – cast a magic spell over a US Senator, turning him black. Yes, really. Starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. You couldn’t make it up.
But we did. Thanks to sleuthing genealogists and the luck of the, eh, Irish. And the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow? An unoccupied, pebbledash terraced house, with net curtains. On a site where once stood a thatched cottage – birthplace of the oddly-named Falmouth Kearney, a shoemaker’s son who took a coffin ship to the New World in 1850. And became great-great-great grandfather to President Barack Obama.
Tea party – these guys are thugs – but a great rant from Rep. Weiner from NY – Put Up or Shut Up and Sing It, Brother!
As Weiner strides purposefully up to the podium and grabs the mic, the acting speaker says, "The gentleman is recognized," and Weiner doesn’t even let . . . → Read More: Filibuster and sorry for the shouting
Hopes that California will become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana appear to be turning into a pipe dream.
Voters plan to oppose a measure on the November 2 ballot to legalise marijuana use by 53% to 43%, according to a Ipsos poll released on Tuesday that showed a big . . . → Read More: Proposition 19 – Yes or No on Nov 2?
Christine O’Donnell’s victory in the Delaware GOP senatorial primary last Tuesday is continuing to echo all the way to 2012. The new conventional wisdom is that there will be two Republican presidential primaries in 2012: one for the tea-party vote and one for the big business vote. Then in the home stretch, the . . . → Read More: Tea party
I am following the US mid-term elections. The proposal in California to legalise cannabis for medicinal and recreational use will be very interesting. I hope those Tea Party twats get hammered but usually I find the more I want something to happen lessens the chances of a successful . . . → Read More: Proposition 19
This is a video featuring Google’s chief giving away ice cream to snoop on children which was shown on a giant screen in Times Square yesterday by a privacy group hounding Google – brill.
The snippet was displayed as an advertisement in Times Square and was from a video clip posted online at . . . → Read More: Taking the piss out of Eric Schmidt
On the fifth anniversary of the destruction of Nawleans by hurricane Katrina last night we saw the first two parts of Spike Lee’s documentary on the city of New Orleans and its citizens and the destruction in the wake of Katrina – the second two parts are being shown on BBC4 Wednesday at . . . → Read More: The day the levees broke
I got an email a few days ago from Tony in California saying that he was surprised that I had not posted on this blog anything about the UK government doing a deal with Libya on a prisoner transfer programme which would pave the way for BP to deep drill in Libyan waters.
I responded that the Scottish government had released Megrahi on compassionate grounds and that, in this instance, I did not believe in any conspiracy theories.
Well, well well… it now transpires the US was up to their necks in intrigue and stated that they would prefer a release on compassionate grounds rather than under a prisoner release scheme.
Now that the Senate Congressional committee are demanding all the papers from the Scottish government but the Scots can’t release more papers because the US government has put a block on them – please read further Tony…
Sunday Times 25/07/2010 (protected by a pay wall) but you can read it here:
and Petula Clark. You couldn’t make it up. 
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